Lau Group

Lau Group, also called Eastern Group, island cluster of Fiji in the South Pacific Ocean, east of the Koro Sea. Mainly composed of limestone, the 57 islands and islets cover a land area of 188 square miles (487 square km) and are scattered over 44,000 square miles (114,000 square km) of the South Pacific. The chief island is Vanua Balavu, site of Lomaloma, now a copra port. Lomaloma was the base for the Tongan chief Maʿafu in his unsuccessful 1855 bid for domination of the islands of Fiji. The second most important island is Lakeba (Lakemba), site of the first Wesleyan missionary venture in Fiji (1835). The village of Tubou, the main settlement of the Lau Group, is on Lakeba. Because of the Lau Group’s proximity and historical connections to Tonga, the people and their culture combine Polynesian and Melanesian characteristics to a greater extent than is found in Fiji’s more westerly groups.